Currents II: To Tame the Wild Heart
by Gillian Taylor
Summary: To tame the wild heart, you have to let it run free.


Title: Currents II: To Tame the Wild Heart  
Author: Gillian Taylor  
Category/Rating: Romance / PG (For now)  
Characters: Leia/Han, Luke  
Warnings: Leia loves Han. Han loves Leia *sniff* (though this is only  
when he hasn't met Gill)   
Summary: To tame the wild heart, you have to let it run free.  
  
Disclaimer: My name is George Lucas. I created it all, I tell you! It  
all! MUAHAHAHA! Bow before me all ye little people! *clears throat*   
Sorry, Dr. Pepper talking there. Actually, I'm just a poor college  
student who's doing this stuff for fun and for her own perverted  
enjoyment.  
  
Author's Notes: Part II in a series devoted to the start of the  
Han/Leia relationship.  
  
Place: Thermia, Klatuu Nebula (too much Galaxy Quest on my part).   
Current location of the Rebel forces between ANH and ESB.  
  
Special Thanks and Chocolate Covered Jedi/Smugglers to my betas, Crysta  
and Sabine.  
  
Feedback: I like mail. Any mail. usstrustno1@hotmail.com  
  
*****  
  
"Currents II: To Tame the Wild Heart"  
by Gillian Taylor  
  
The stench and dirt of a thousand different worlds were ingrained in  
his boots, in his pants, in his tunic. The smells of living in a  
confined 'hunk of junk' intermingled with that of Correllian food and  
of a Wookie. Han Solo breathed in the special fragrance that only he  
and other spacefarers knew and sighed.  
  
It had been a long time since he had last even thought about returning  
to his smuggling days, Chewie in tow. He had been saddled, tamed. His  
wild spirit had been leashed as firmly as if it were encased in  
carbonite. And it was all for the sake of her.  
  
He had long ago acknowledged that he loved her, and he knew that she  
loved him though she refused to see it. It was like they were caught  
up in an endless dance of give and take, but one partner did not see it  
for what it was. Perhaps he should be the one to take the first step,  
the one to share with her the truth as he saw it.  
  
However, he knew that he could not be the one to take that step. He  
had taken it many times before, yet each time she had spurned the truth  
for the sake of her own pride and self. She was scared, he could tell,  
scared of him and of this all-encompassing 'thing' that had them both  
in its grips. He was frightened too, but the best part of being in  
love was that fear.  
  
With a sigh he twisted the spanner to the right, tightening the bolt  
that he had been working on for the past hour. Like Leia would go to  
the sea, he would go to his ship for contemplation. It was soothing,  
this mechanical work. It helped him to release the tensions of dealing  
every day with a love that Leia refused to acknowledge.   
  
The bolt that he was tightening suddenly shot off of the panel, barely  
missing hitting his temple. He muttered a colorful Correllian curse at  
his clumsiness.  
  
"Han? You ok?" a concerned voice drifted up from the pavement beneath  
him.  
  
"Yeah, kid," Han responded, muttering under his breath, "I just managed  
to lose a bolt. It didn't hit you, did it? You don't see it down  
there, do you?"  
  
"It didn't hit me and yeah," Luke responded, easily locating the bolt  
beside one of the Falcon's landing pads. He grabbed the bolt and  
climbed on the Falcon to hand it to his friend, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing," Han said, taking the offending bolt and putting it back in  
its place.   
  
"You and I both know that the only time that you work on the Falcon  
when she's in great shape is when you're troubled, Han. What's wrong?"  
  
Han didn't answer him, choosing instead to watch the bolt close in on  
the panel with each careful twist of the spanner.  
  
"It's Leia isn't it?"  
  
He gave the spanner a final, violent twist and the bolt stayed in  
place. "What makes you think that?"  
  
"Nothing...other than she was thinking about you."  
  
A grin crossed his face as he turned towards the younger man, "She was,  
huh? I knew she couldn't go through the day without thinking about me  
at least once."  
  
Luke suppressed the urge to shake his head. Leia and Han were a  
perfect match in too many ways. Where Leia suppressed her emotions,  
Han wore his heart on his sleeve. Perhaps that was the root of the  
matter. Such an open personality scared Leia to the core. He had been  
watching them both for a long time, and it seemed to him that they  
lived in their own world refusing to see or acknowledge the truth.   
Somewhere over the past year and a half their constant bickering had  
changed into something more. Whether from his hard earned-experience  
as a seasoned Rebel pilot who'd seen more of the galaxy than most young  
men his age or some intervention in the Force, he wasn't sure, but he  
knew that they were meant for each other. They just needed some  
prodding in the right direction, "You might want to tone that down."  
  
"Huh? What?" Han asked, staring at his friend as if he had just  
sprouted horns and turned into a Triskellian Moth-rat.  
  
"To tame the heart that has run free for so long, you have to give  
something up of your own," Luke responded.  
  
"Hey, don't start spouting that mystical mumbo-jumbo on me," Han said,  
confused.  
  
Luke just smiled at his friend and climbed off of the Falcon. He  
turned back when he was on the ground, meeting Han's bewildered eyes,  
"Wild hearts, Han. You have one. So does she. If you want any hope  
of ever being together, you need to stop trying to push her away."  
  
"Huh? Push her away? I don't do that," Han protested.  
  
"Yes, you do. Every time you say something about her feelings, you  
belittle her love and herself. You force her away better than any  
Imperial stormtrooper would be able to. You try to cage her with your  
words. Think about it, Han. You know that I'm right," Luke told him  
firmly, and he turned and left Han to his ship and to his thoughts.  
  
'I don't push her away or try to cage her, do I?' Han asked himself as  
he sat atop the Millennium Falcon. Perhaps Luke was right, maybe he  
DID try to push her away with his remarks. He didn't mean to, but it  
was a defense mechanism that he had developed over the years as a  
smuggler. It was second nature, and he would need to tone it down if  
he wanted her.  
  
To tame the wild heart, you needed to let it run free.  
  
The End  
  
-----  
Comments, flames, and pleas for me to return to the rock that   
I came from should be sent to me personally. I like mail.   
Any mail. Good, bad, mediocre...  
  
usstrustno1@hotmail.com


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